1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a floor system, and, more particularly, to a floor system made up of elongated slats and connector-spacers for holding the slats together in spaced relation. Although the invention is particularly applicable to a slatted floor used in raising farm animals in a confined area and will be described primarily with reference thereto, the invention can be used for any slatted floor arrangement in which a permanent, easily assembled, slatted floor is desired.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recognition that sanitation and animal safety and comfort are important factors in the profitable production of farm animals raised in confinement has led to the manufacture of a variety of slatted flooring systems. Most of these are used in animal enclosures which have a slatted floor area in the central portion of the enclosure under which is located a pit into which animal waste matter drops for later removal.
A variety of materials appear in the slatted floor systems of the prior art, including wood, concrete, aluminum, steel and plastic. The prior art slatted floor systems have also featured a variety of configurations for slat members, including solid slats, U-shaped and E-shaped channel members and substantially square hollow members. Associated with these slat configurations are numerous designs for the interconnecting parts used to hold and space the slats. Among the more recent examples of slatted floor systems are those shown in the patents to Lehe and Lehe et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,742,911; 3,757,743; 3,804,067; 3,837,319), Vickstrom and Vickstrom et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,716,027; 3,721,215; 3,722,473; 3,722,474), Bowser (U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,593), Boswer et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,730,140), Becker (U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,550) and Jones et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,014).
Each of the slatted floor systems found in the prior art suffers from one or more disadvantages based on the material from which it is made, or its configuration. A floor system using wood slats easily becomes coated and saturated with animal waste matter, thereby becoming very slippery and also unsanitary. Slats made of concrete or metals such as steel or aluminum are typically good heat conductors and therefore feel less comfortable to animals. In addition, prior art slats are frequently difficult to assemble, may suffer from corrosion caused by animal wastes, may cause foot injuries to the confined animals and may not have sufficient structural strength to resist the torsion loading caused by the considerable weight of animals walking on them. Further significant disadvantages of prior art slat systems are their inability to span all but the shortest distances without intermediate support and their sanitation problems, caused by the accumulation of animal waste on slats and the difficulty of easily washing away such waste.